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A Hero's Pride In The Epic Of Beowulf

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Heroes often tend to brag about themselves and want to be the center of attention. On certain occasions it is okay for heroes to brag about themselves but not all the time. Not all heroes are perfect, they are also humans, in a way, and they will not obtain victory every time. Beowulf was a young warrior and hero for the Danes and Geats; he had a lot of pride in what he accomplished as a warrior. In the story, Beowulf fought against three monsters; he battled Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a Dragon. Beowulf was a strong and powerful man, he defeated both Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Beowulf battled these monsters to protect the Danes and later in the story he goes back to his hometown. Beowulf becomes the king of the Geats and they were attacked …show more content…

At this point of the story Beowulf was back at his home town and he became the king of the Geats. Geatland was attacked by a Dragon and Beowulf stated, “I risked my life often… but as a king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (2511-2514). He starts bragging about his past battles and saying that the fight was not “up to any man except [him]” (2533). Being already a king one would agree that his warriors would have protected him and his people, why would Beowulf want to fight against the Dragon. Beowulf knew that he was old already and that things were different but he wanted to “win the gold by [his] courage” (2535). In the story Beowulf mentioned that it was his last battle, and Indeed it was. The battle was challenging because Beowulf was old and the Dragon “spouted deadly flames;” (2581) and Beowulf’s sword “let him down in the fight” (2682). Beowulf was attached by “sharp fangs” (2691) on the neck giving him “deadly poison;” (2714) he knew that it was over. “Beowulf dealt it a deadly wound” (2705) while Wiglaf killed the Dragon in honor of Beowulf and became the new king/hero. Beowulf’s arrogance and pride to kill this Dragon, killed him. If Beowulf would not have had a big ego he would of been still the king of the

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